Oakland High School students sit and watch as their teachers picket during a one day strike at all Oakland Unified Schools on Thursday April 29, 2010. The union urged parents to keep their children home for the day in support of the strike but school administrators brought in substitutes in an effort to take care of the students who showed for class.

Photo: Mike Kepka, The Chronicle

Oakland High School students sit and watch as their teachers picket...

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Chris Chatmon, executive director of African America male achievments for the school district, greets Willie who attends the "New Generations" program at Edna Brewer Middle School on Tuesday May 22, 2012, in Oakland,Ca. The Oakland Unified School District uses a manhood development program in six of it's high schools and 4 middle schools to to try and combat the high rates of absentees, suspensions and drop-outs in the African American community.

Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle

Chris Chatmon, executive director of African America male...

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Chris Chatmon, executive director of African America male achievments for the school district, listens to 8th grader, Amari read his paper, during a visit to the "New Generations" program at Edna Brewer Middle School on Tuesday May 22, 2012, in Oakland,Ca. The Oakland Unified School District uses a manhood development program in six of it's high schools and 4 middle schools to to try and combat the high rates of absentees, suspensions and drop-outs in the African American community.

Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle

Chris Chatmon, executive director of African America male...

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Lead instructor, Jahi, works with the students during the "New Generations" program at Edna Brewer Middle School on Tuesday May 22, 2012, in Oakland,Ca. The Oakland Unified School District uses a manhood development program in six of it's high schools and 4 middle schools to to try and combat the high rates of absentees, suspensions and drop-outs in the African American community.

By the time they reach middle school, more than half of the African American males in Oakland show signs they'll miss high school graduation day, with suspensions and chronic absenteeism topping the list of common characteristics among them, according to a study released Tuesday.

The Urban Strategies Council report identified several risk factors facing black males and urged Oakland education officials to monitor those students closely and intervene to keep them in class and on track to graduate.

"This report demonstrates the critical importance of Oakland Unified School District's decision to begin regularly calculating and monitoring chronic absence and using disaggregated data to unpack the challenges and realities for particular populations of students," said Hedy Chang, of Attendance Works, a national nonprofit that helps address chronic absence in schools, in a statement.

Researchers found that 1 out of 5 African American boys in Oakland, more than 1,200 students, were suspended from school at least once last year and an equal number were chronically absent.

The study identified the early-warning signs of a high school dropout, including an absentee rate of at least 10 days in a school year, at least one suspension, below-grade literacy and being held back a grade.

More than half the district's black males, 55 percent, had one or more of those red flags, according to the researchers at Urban Strategies Council, an Oakland-based nonprofit that focuses on improving conditions in low-income communities.

While black males made up 17 percent of district enrollment, they comprised 42 percent of suspensions, a suspension rate six times higher than that of white males.

Familiar stories

The numbers offered deep insight into statistics that are already all-too familiar to Oakland Unified officials.

The program has initiated manhood development classes at three middle schools and six high schools, a program that boosted grades and attendance while reducing behavioral problems, said the office's executive director, Chris Chatmon.

In addition, he works with parents and school staff to analyze the statistics, talk about problems and find answers.

At Edna Brewer Middle School, for example, Chatmon helped coordinate an African American parent summit, open to all families, to look at black student achievement and brainstorm what they felt was needed.

The group decided to create a Black Student Union to address the fact that some students didn't think it was "cool to be smart," Chatmon said.

The club offered students a formal place to meet to put the "swag back in smartness," he said.

Addressing absences

The Urban Strategies Council acknowledged the ongoing work at the district, but recommended increasing efforts to identify at-risk black males and immediately address chronic absences through programs that increase parent involvement and offer mentoring, for example.

In addition, the report called for alternatives to suspensions for nonviolent or nonserious offenses. Currently, nearly half the African American boys with multiple suspensions were suspended for "willful defiance or disruption," something researchers called a subjective offense that could be addressed without a temporary ban from school.

While the report's numbers were sobering, Chatmon said it's important to note the good news, including the nearly 1,200 black students who landed on the honor roll this spring.

Still, he acknowledged the ongoing need to address the issues highlighted in the report.

"It's humbling," he said. "I'm hopeful we'll all be able to leverage this."